The Houston Astros will likely find themselves at the heart of an MLB investigation after a Tuesday report in The Athletic alleged that the team spent the 2017 season using outfield cameras to steal signs.
Shortly after the report ran, which included on-the-record comments from former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers, a Twitter video from Jomboy Media’s Jimmy O’Brien highlighted a banging noise that immediately followed signals for off-speed pitches. Then-White Sox pitcher Danny Farquhar appeared to notice it at the time and conferred with the catcher to change the signs.
But O’Brien did even more digging, and it became obvious that these apparent sign-stealing tactics played out multiple times during 2017 Astros home games. On Wednesday, O’Brien tweeted a video from George Springer’s 433-foot home run off Chris Flexen.
Uh, yeah, that wasn’t exactly the kind of swing you’d see on an 0-2 count unless the hitter knew what to expect.
In the video, we could hear the banging sound immediately following the signal for an off-speed pitch. But keep an eye on how then-Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud tried to obstruct his sign from the outfield camera’s view. You rarely see that kind of effort to obscure signs when no runner is on base. The Mets clearly thought the Astros were stealing the signs at the time, and they had reason to be suspicious.
According to MLB.com, the Astros batted 10 balls off Flexen that had an exit velocity exceeding 96 mph in four innings (!!!). Springer’s home run, specifically, had a 107 mph EV. He grounded out earlier in the game on a scorched 106.9 mph grounder.
Just look at those emojis:
No wonder the Mets thought something was amiss.
